Here is another batch of pics for you!
if you look real close, you can see a black speck up on top, thats a 6 foot tall man!
now we have 2 men looking down at us
they are guiding the crane operator to the hub
this id what is at the bottom of it all THE BIG GUY!!
in this pic, notice the man standing behind the crane? the tracks are taller than a man
to get this pic. I had to climb the 50' tall dirtpile just west of the tower!
the size of this thing is hard to really tell or feel just from pic.s

the tracks are 4 feet wide and taller than a man!--the crane is 28 feet wide at track level. they dont use any outriggers on it, just counter-weights. its 28 feet to the top of the BIG control room, and see how small it looks?
It's hard to really tell the massive size of this thing unless you can see one in person, but we tried to get some good pics. for you to enjoy and get an idea of how the construction goes on this kind of project!
They still have final hook-ups to do as well as grading and roadwork, etc. Thanks; sonny

The temps. at the time we took the pics. was a wee bit above zero that day with a stiff wind at ground level!--So picture in your mind what it would be like that high in the air, WIDE open, no hill for windbreak!! --My hats off to all the crew on that project for the good job that they have done so far! thanks; sonny

Sonny, A european company just opened a blade plant in Windsor, CO. I met one of the new employees, he said the schedule was to make each one in 18 hours. Right now it is taking them twice that long. Guess I'll have to watch for them on the highway now. 140' blade is hard to miss.

Sonny,
I must say that this post is very imformative! Did you happen to note the contractors name that actually did the construction and how long it took them to complete the construction? Have you noticed dead birds around the structures since the turbines went online?
John

I will have to check on the set-up contractor. I know Michaels construction did the electrical, and White construction did the access road work.
The big crane was a rental unit from Ky.
The second 140 turbine section was put up in about 6 months, and only had the one big crane for the whole job(he is a professional turbine contractor!)---the first section took over a year with 6 big cranes,(different contractor!!--his first job!!--and last from what we heard!!)

We didn't see any birds around the turbines, and they are going to use our west one for a check unit about birds. ----one turbine will have 5 strips 10 x 500 feet from the base out and will be kept sprayed to kill all vegetation so they can watch.--they will look once a month for a year.----they will do a total of 12 turbines out of 120 to use as checks.

We heard that an overseas company was looking to build a blade plant in the USA, so they wouldn't have to handle the shipping of them!--They see a big world market for the blades in the future! thanks; sonny

You sign off with Thanks Sonny. It is really us should be thanking you.
I am not concerned with bird kills because we caught a red tail hawk with a house. That said I disagree with the once a month check up for dead birds. scavengers will have dragged many off in that time. It is also true every bird will die someday so the finding of a few should not be great cause for concern.

Bill

"Life's tough.It's even tougher if you're stupid."- John Wayne

" We hang petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."- Aesop

beaconlight wrote:That said I disagree with the once a month check up for dead birds. scavengers will have dragged many off in that time.

You won't get a total count of dead birds with a monthly check. It is probably adequate for getting a seasonal distribution of the effect on birds living in the area. May not tell you anything about effect on migratories that pass through.

I admittedly am not an ornithologist, but from my experience living in the country I think damage to birds will be minimal. The blades move much slower than an airplane propeller, and are visible. I think the birds will avoid it for the most part, unless there is something done or planted to lure them to the area.

John *.?-!.* cub owner wrote:The blades move much slower than an airplane propeller, and are visible.

The blades are 125 feet long. If they turn at 30 rpm (a guess but I think that is about the slowest they turn), I calculate the tip speed at 268 mph. That isn't airliner speed, but is pretty fast for somethng that close to the ground.

The blades on these run from 11 rpm up to 22 rpm and yes the blades are of a size that can be seen very easily by everything!--I don't think the bird thing is going to prove/disprove anything, --BUT it will look good on paper!!! LOL!!
We see hawks fly in under the propellers and plop down on a nice big fat rabbit and take off with it and not even get close to the blades so just from watching them I personally would say that they know the blades are there and how close it is safe to get to them!
Geese/ducks/gulls/ and big crane type birds fly much higher than the blades, so no danger to them!----I think the eco's are still trying to stop future turbine construction and will try to say the turbines are the cause of the worlds problems!

I just remembered the name of the set-up contractor and it's Barnhardt Construction.----they are from TN. ----I think Jonson City or Knoxville, somewhere in that area!--They did a very good job and were a pleasure to deal with! All the contractors we met were an ok group! all worked together as a team! Thanks; sonny